


Crossfire

by hereonourstreet



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:22:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereonourstreet/pseuds/hereonourstreet
Summary: Galo wonders where Lio goes when he retreats into his mind and if he'll ever be allowed to follow; he never realizes that maybe he goes somewhere too, and Lio will have to figure out how to knock as well.Basically Galo and Lio find much needed therapists. Third person, Galo's POV.Based onthis song.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 13
Kudos: 162





	Crossfire

**Author's Note:**

> this sort of goes against stuff in my other fic (the scientific method) but I uhhh had new ideas so whatever. 
> 
> i usually don't preface my work but just: the tenses are a little weird because it didn't go the way i thought it was going to so the dialogue is italicized to represent stuff happening in the past, then it kind of turned into a lot of dialogue and i don't know what happened. this is a first draft that likely won't be edited, i just wanted to get it out.
> 
> the sex is brief but explicit, so if you're looking for hardcore fucking, sorry
> 
> again, based on [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-5CVc9YU80). this is such a Promare song, please PLEASE i beg of you to listen to it (not just because Brandon Flowers has been my biggest crush for 15 years).

There was a certain finality to the events in Promepolis that day; that day of the fist bump that could be heard around the world. Yeah, something ended. A long series of  experiences  were drawn to a conclusion _.  _ Little  instances that Galo will always remember for as long as he lives. Something ended that day and it was something that Galo  _ wanted  _ to end. It was a terrible thing. 

And of course, something began, too.

Galo visits Lio every day and Lio visits Galo on the days he can’t. Lio has a small studio apartment just a few blocks away from Galo’s place, and it’s a mess. Lio isn’t used to getting to own  _ things _ , so he went a little wild and bought a lot of  stuff _.  _ But he doesn’t know how to live steadily, so he has too many spoons and only one towel. Galo offers to help him shop every now and then but Lio just glares at him, daring him to criticize his apartment, and Galo shuts up. He smiles, but he shuts up. 

There’s a window next to Lio’s bed. It has some sort of texture to it and it looks beautiful when it rains. Galo will often show up at Lio’s door without any forewarning when the clouds are gathering and Lio is always expecting him. He lets him in without a word and they both lay down in his bed, watch the window in silence and wait for the rain to start. Galo dared to reach over and touch Lio’s hair once. He still doesn’t know what came over him, but Lio let him. In fact, he closed his eyes and it was the most peaceful Galo has ever seen him. The city stopped for a moment as the clouds opened up and Galo listened to the steady rhythm of Lio’s heavy breathing as he slept, watching the droplets hit the glass and he doesn’t know if  _ he’s  _ ever felt so peaceful as he did in that moment, either.

The first time they kissed -  _ actually  _ kissed; not touching lips because Lio’s life depended on it - it was raining, too. Galo was laying on his back. Lio put an arm on his chest, rested his chin in his elbow and stared up at him. Galo smiled at him in confusion, wondering what he wanted. What Lio wanted was to kiss him. So he did, and it took Galo’s breath away. 

_ “Was that okay?”  _ Lio asked. Galo needed a moment to find his heart. It had beaten up his throat and into his mouth. He had to swallow it back down so he gave a weak nod and said,  _ “Uh-huh.” _

Lio smirked at him knowingly. 

_ “How many people have you kissed before?” _

_ “Not many.” _

_ “How many?” _

_ “Three.” _

Lio’s smirk turned into a genuine smile.

_ “Let me know if you want to do it again.” _

_ “I will.” _

Lio curled up against him and Galo spent ten minutes gathering the courage to say Lio’s name. It did finally squeak out of his mouth and he didn't have to say anything more - Lio knew what he wanted, sat up and pulled him up to sit. He pressed their foreheads together and Galo’s heart leapt into his mouth again. Then Lio kissed him a second time, this one longer and - Galo supposes the word is  _ deeper.  _ The first one was just a peck. A surface-level kiss. Lio’s lips truly locked into Galo’s on the second kiss. And it lasted much longer. So long that Lio had to grab Galo’s jaw to steady himself. So long that Galo was able to calm himself before the third kiss, which happened immediately after the second.

That’s when he supposes it became making out, something he hadn’t done in years.

It was an admission of sorts, from both of them. Confessions that were a long time coming.  _ I like you. I might even love you. In any case, I want to kiss you.  _

Unfortunately, nothing is that easy.

Galo suspects some of it is that Lio is so used to living in secrecy and it’s a hard habit to break. For so long he had only Gueira and Meis, and even they seemed closer to each other than they were to Lio. They  _ idolize  _ Lio, absolutely love him, and Lio clearly feels the same way about them. And that’s because Lio was not a dictator. He didn’t want to be a supreme leader, bringing people into the new free world. He wanted the current world to let him live in it. There are a lot of reasons to really love Lio Fotia. Galo knows just about all of them.

One thing that’s frustrating about him is the secrecy.

Sometimes he looks away with pursed lips and faraway eyes, stares into the distance and won’t speak. Galo knows he’s thinking about something, obviously, but he doesn’t know what. It’s something that Galo wants so desperately to understand - or at least to be told. He wants Lio to trust him. He wants Lio to feel like he can tell him what it was like to be Burnish in a world that hated him. But it’s a little awkward when Galo’s job was to extinguish his flames. Galo knows that. He accepts that. But all he can do is stare at Lio the way Lio stares away, wishing so badly that he would share his thoughts. He does look really beautiful in those moments, though Galo supposes some of that is the allure of mystery. Lio is both something he understands innately and something he’s still figuring out. And Galo’s an idiot, so it’s going to take a while.

Not that he minds.

_ “You can tell me,”  _ he said finally. Lio looked at him in surprise. Then he frowned sadly.

_ “I can’t.” _

_ “You can,”  _ Galo insisted.  _ “It’s a matter of if you ever want to.” _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “I’ll always be here if you ever decide you want to tell me what you’re thinking about.” _

Lio was silent for a long time. Then, simply:

_ “Thank you.” _

It makes Galo anxious. But for Lio, he’s willing to wait forever.

There was the day it rained and Galo couldn’t have remembered the weather to save his life, because Lio was on his bed, up on his knees, wearing only his underwear as he started to take his shirt off. He was getting ready for bed but knew exactly what he was doing. He looked over at Galo, caught him staring - probably with his mouth open - and nodded at him to come over. Galo asked if he was sure and he laughed. That was the first night they ever slept together - in both senses of the word.

_ “Are you sure?”  _

_ “Yeah,”  _ Lio said easily, wrapping his arms around Galo’s neck and straddling his lap.  _ “Are  _ you  _ sure?” _

Galo swallowed. Lio smirked again, pressed their lips together and eventually started grinding against Galo’s dick. He pressed his own against Galo’s lower stomach, his ass coaxing Galo’s clothed cock to hardness, the whole time distracting him with kisses. Galo groaned into his mouth, rocked his hips up finally in desperation and Lio pulled away, licked his lips and started to undress them both.

Galo leaned onto his back, stripped himself of his pants, underwear, shirt - tried to take off his arm brace but Lio stopped him.

_ “I like it. It looks hot.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “I know it’s for a real purpose,”  _ he said.  _ “But it looks good on you.” _

_ “How?” _

_ “Because it’s such a part of you. And I like you. I like every part of you. It’s hard to explain.” _

Galo didn’t get it at the time, but he gets it now.

Their first time, Galo was inside Lio, but Lio was on top. He’d clearly planned the whole thing, as he was already a little open but Galo insisted that he let him do the work, too. So Lio bent over on his hands and knees and let Galo finger him open - with plenty of lube - until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Galo had never felt his dick strain so hard, and it was just from watching Lio writhing against his touch. He  _ definitely _ never felt as good as when Lio first let him inside. 

They used a condom that night just to be safe, but they don’t anymore. Galo doesn’t exclusively top anymore, either. But their first time was, cheesily enough, magical for Galo, even though it didn’t actually end very well.

Lio got up and cleaned up, went to the shower and washed himself off from all the lube and cum and sweat and Galo laid in bed, waiting for him to return. 

He didn’t.

Galo had to wander into the bathroom to find him staring out the window above the sink. He looked down on the street, the rain still pattering against it, and Galo startled him when he said his name. He apologized, but Lio was annoyed and Galo couldn’t figure out why. Hadn’t they just done something important? Something that meant a lot to both of them?

_ “Did it mean a lot to you?”  _ Lio asked.

_ “Yes!”  _ Galo was indignant.  _ “I didn’t know you didn’t care as much.” _

_ “Don’t put words in my mouth.” _

_ “Then tell me it meant something to you.” _

_ “Of course it did, you idiot.” _

_ “Say it without calling me an idiot.” _

_ “Of course it did, dumbass.” _

Galo growled and left the room, crossed back to the bed and started to dress again. He didn’t want to leave but he didn’t know what else to do in the moment. Lio came storming out, accusing him of giving up the second things got difficult and Galo didn’t know how to respond to that. It was so outlandish and untrue and even Lio must have known that. Galo calmed himself down.

_ “You go to this place I can’t follow you to,”  _ he’d said.  _ “One day you might have to at least tell me where it is.” _

Lio grit his teeth and Galo could see the tears in his eyes.

_ “You don’t get it.” _

_ “I know I don’t.” _

_ “Life before… this. Was so different. And I was constantly in danger. And now, suddenly, I’m not?” _

_ “No,”  _ Galo said simply.  _ “You’re not.” _

_ “That’s hard for me, Galo.” _

_ “I know it is.” _

_ “I can’t just adjust that easily. There are things that - memories I have that - I can’t choose when they come back to me. And when they do, I can’t always be focusing on you.” _

Galo got angry for a second. He remembers the rage. But just as quickly, it went away. Because he realized this was their first fight. And it was hardly a fight. It was easy. It was something Galo could handle. Because Galo could handle Lio.

_ “I don’t expect you to focus on me and you know that. But now I understand where you go. And that’s all I wanted.” _

_ “And now we can just go back to normal?” _

_ “We can go back to  _ our  _ normal.” _

_ “Things aren’t just-” _

And that’s when the power went out.

There was a sudden, steady noise and when they both turned to look out the window by the bed, they noticed there was hail crashing down against the pane. A few seconds later, lightning. And finally, thunder.

Lio tried to light a candle with his hand out of muscle memory. Galo saw it and Lio knew he saw it. He started to cry and Galo held him all night.

Yeah, something ended that day that the Parnassus crashed, never to see its maiden voyage. But the crossfire was just beginning. And Galo was caught up in it, but at least he was caught up in it with Lio.

Lio got worse. Not to Galo, but to himself. He started breaking down more and more, then treating himself terribly over it. He thanked Galo every day for not leaving; he even tried to make up for his anxiety with sexual favors, offering to go down on Galo if he would just stay the night. At first, Galo thought he was joking. He didn’t need to  _ persuade  _ him to stay the night. But he slowly realized that Lio was losing it, he was really going through something, and he might have been hitting bottom. A bottom that was necessary, but awful nonetheless.

_ “You don’t have to…”  _ Galo tried to think of the word.  _ “Justify things. I’ll always be here for you.” _

_ “I know.” _

_ “You don’t owe me anything. I want to be there for you. Don’t you want to be there for me?” _

_ “Yes,”  _ he’d said breathlessly. Desperately. 

_ “Lio.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “Do you think maybe you need to talk to someone more… qualified?” _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “Maybe I can’t help you. Maybe you need to talk to someone trained to help you.” _

That’s how Lio started therapy and if Galo thought the hardest part was over, he was wrong.

_ He  _ still needed to hit bottom.

It started off subtle. Little tics when Lio would talk about where he was going when he retreated into his own mind. Lio was doing exactly what Galo wanted - he was bringing him with him on a journey that was very personal and very intense. It was a difficult thing for Lio to do and for some reason, Galo was getting… 

It wasn’t annoyed. It wasn’t irritated. It was…

_ “And it’s okay,”  _ Lio said one night.  _ “I’m allowed to be angry for the rest of my life. I’m allowed to never forgive someone. Or at the very least, I’m allowed to forgive but never forget.” _

Guilt.

It was guilt that Galo felt, and it festered inside him. Was this his own fault? He was complicit. And being unaware isn’t an excuse. He still hurt people. He was still part of a system that  _ hurt people.  _ Even though he  _ never  _ hated the Burnish, even though he was just putting out fires that  _ needed  _ to be extinguished, even though he was too fucking  _ stupid _ to realize it, he was part of the group that hurt Lio. The group that drove him to crying in his arms at night and calling a medical specialist the next day. That was Galo. It was Galo’s fault.

_ “But maybe you can forgive,”  _ he’d said. Because he needed to. He very much needed to hear Lio forgive him. He needed Lio to say it without  _ saying  _ it.  _ “Maybe you can see past some of the bad things and… I don’t know. Understand.” _

Of course, now Galo knows: he was talking about himself. Lio was talking about Kray.

_ “No,”  _ Lio had said testily.  _ “I can’t just understand. I can’t understand hating people and wiping out th - I mean, what are you talking about, Galo? What’s there to understand?” _

_ “Some people are too dumb to see what they’re doing.” _

_ “Don’t blame it on ignorance. Ignorance implies that if they’d just known better, they wouldn’t be evil.” _

_ “It’s not  _ evil,” Galo interrupted.

_ “It is,”  _ Lio insisted.  _ “Pure, unadulterated evil.” _

Galo was evil. He was an evil person. For weeks, he was just - evil. He couldn’t shake it. He couldn’t get past it. He was an evil person and evil people didn’t deserve to eat or sleep or love Lio Fotia. He disappeared. He took time off work just so he didn’t have to atone for his sins. Just so Lio couldn’t find him, couldn’t realize how truly evil he really was and dump him. Not that they were dating yet. But Lio might still leave, after all those nights spent crying, thinking Galo would be the one to do that. After all this time, it was Lio who was going to break things off.

He knocked on his door one night. Galo knew who it was. It couldn’t be anyone else - maybe Aina, but she was a little preoccupied with Heris - so he trudged to the door, his hair wet and sopping onto his t-shirt. Lio looked angry and Galo thought for a moment that this was it - Lio really was going to dump him. He burst inside, whirled around and glared at him.

_ “Where have you been?” _

_ “Lio-” _

_ “Why did you just bail?” _

_ “I didn’t bail. I just…” _

_ “What? You just what?” _

_ “I just needed some time to myself.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Don’t you always need time to yourself? I don’t get to need some… solitude?” _

_ “But I tell you when I need it,”  _ he said.  _ “I tell you what’s going on now. Even when I can’t share everything. I at least tell you that I can’t. You just disappeared.” _

_ “You care?” _

Lio froze. He looked at Galo with a sudden concern; he wasn’t expecting that question. And Galo hadn’t asked it confrontationally but miserably, as if he really wanted to hear an answer. A specific answer.

_ “Of course I do. Idiot.” _

_ “Even after what I’ve done?” _

_ “What have you done?” _

_ “Kray was my idol,”  _ Galo said.  _ “I worshipped him. I still think about him. I took a medal from him celebrating  _ your  _ arrest. And you can still stand to look at me?” _

What Galo was not expecting was for Lio to rush towards him, grab his shirt and pull him in, kiss him deeply and hold on for dear life.

_ “You’re the only one worth looking at, Galo Thymos.” _

Galo cried. He cried that night in Lio’s arms and Lio asked out loud if maybe Galo needed someone who was actually trained to help him. Galo kind of smiled, Lio’s words echoing his own, and the next day he found a therapist.

And it isn’t easy. Lio still vanishes into his memories; Galo still guilts himself into despair. But knowing that it won’t ever be easy is what makes it less hard. Lio asks Galo to be his boyfriend one day while they’re waiting out the rain under an awning at a café. Galo sputters and when they get home, Galo lays on his back and Lio enters him slowly, telling him this means something to him for the first time ever. Galo nods in reciprocation, too overwhelmed by the pressure inside him to speak. Lio fucks him that night slow and steady and languid and neither of them end up inside the bathroom crying, though they do end up in each other’s arms.

The tears still come but that’s part of the courage they’ve found in each other. Bravery can't exist without fear and being vulnerable is powerful. Galo feels for the first time ever that simply existing is a direct protest to the powers that wanted him gone. He challenges the world to throw something at him that he can’t tackle with Lio in his bed beside him. They’re both coming back from a certain darkness; a fog that clouded their future is lifting. They’re building goals - together and separately. 

“The forecast says rain,” Lio says one day. The sun is out at the moment so Galo checks his phone and sure enough, scattered storms are supposed to start around six p.m, possibly severe. Galo smiles to himself with the knowledge that tonight will be spent weathering the storm next to Lio, just like every other night.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter - [personal](https://www.twitter.com/hereonourstreet) and [fandom](https://www.twitter.com/5H1R0G4N3).


End file.
